Pope transfers responsibilities of seminaries, catechesis in the Vatican

January 25, 2013 - Pope Benedict XVI on Friday issued two Apostolic Letters, shuffling responsibilities of seminaries and catechesis within the central administration of the Catholic Church in the Vatican. With the two ‘Motu Proprio’ Letters, that is, at the Pope’s own initiative, the Pontiff transferred the competence of seminaries from the Congregation for Catholic Education to the Congregation for the Clergy, and the responsibility of catechesis from the Congregation for the Clergy to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization. The move re-organizes the areas of responsibility within the Roman Curia, “the complex of dicasteries and institutes which help the Roman Pontiff in the exercise of his supreme pastoral office for the good and service of the whole Church and of the particular Churches” (Pastor bonus, art. 1). The changes were announced by the Pope earlier on Oct. 27, at the end of the Synod on the New Evangelization in Rome, and were made official on Friday.